Joseph and the Coat of Many Colours (1999) [N/A]
Written by:
Roddy Lee
Release Date:
November 10, 1999
Original Title:
Joseph and the Coat of Many Colours
Alternate Titles:
Animated Classic Gold: Joseph and the Coat of Many Colours
Joseph and the Coat of Many Colors
Genres:
Animation | Family
Production Companies:
Burbank Animation Studios
Production Countries:
Australia
Ratings / Certifications:
AU: G
Runtime: 50
Joseph saves his family from the famine that overtakes the land and is reunited with his beloved father.
In this inspirational Bible story, Joseph is his father's favorite, but he is sold into slavery by his jealous brothers. Overcoming all obstacles, Joseph becomes Governor of Egypt and saves his family from famine, reuniting at last with his beloved father and forgiving his brothers.
None of Burbank Animated Studios' animations are perfect, and few of them great. Most however even with some flaws fit into decent category, with some poor ones.'Joseph and the Coat of Many Colors' is not too bad, to me it was pretty decent and more or less what to expect from Burbank. There was the worry as to how such a famous biblical story would translate well to animation, but it was handled better than expected. While it is very much younger audience-oriented, adults are not going to find it too hard to sit through, not sure whether that can be said for die-hard Christian or bible readers.As said, 'Joseph and the Coat of Many Colors' more or less is what to expect from Burbank, with a lot of the same flaws but enough strengths to make it watchable. The voice acting is a little clichéd, which is not unusual for Burbank animations, and the same can be said for some cheesy and dumbed down dialogue that has some basic lapses in accuracy (such as the colour of the cup, the country that Joseph was governor of and am not sure whether it should have been so blatant that Joseph was Jacob's favourite son).Could have done without the songs too, while there are only a few they are inoffensive but easily forgettable and don't have much relevance to the story. Not all the animation is that strong either, by all means it is generally one of Burbank's better-looking efforts with lovely colours and detailed and nicely done backgrounds but the character designs are a bit rough and lack finesse.However, the incidental music fits well and is very pleasant to listen to, not sounding inappropriate or misplaced. The story does adhere to the biblical story's basic outline and all the events are intact (though it was a shame that such basic details were carelessly inaccurate), the dreams are well done and there are moving moments like the reconciliation of and forgiveness for the brothers and the ending. As said, not all the animation is bad either (overall it is mixed in quality rather than great or amateurish).The characters are nicely written enough, with Joseph a very likable protagonist.In conclusion, more or less what was expected overall from Burbank, not great but not bad. They've done better but also much worse, for them this is middling. 6/10 Bethany Cox
